Have you hugged your temporary spare today?

Well, probably not, but hopefully you've put air in it in the last few months. Most people love to hate them, actually. You can post up with whatever measure of love or hate you have for these things if you really want.

But the real tech questions here are: how long do these things last in the trunk, and what do you do after that?

Seems like I'm in charge of fleet maintenance for my adult children and they all have cars older than 10 years old so it would stand to reason that the temporary spares in them have "aged out," if you believe, even a little, that unused tires age out.

So, should I replace them? With what, a real tire? Or another temporary spare? Where do you get one?

I had a blowout recently and went to the donut tire ... it got me like five miles before it deflated ... so the moral of the story is to check at least 1x annually and fill with air before you need it.

I would believe that if it was in the trunk then it would be okay. Maybe check psi once in a while. I was balancing my tires and just happened to check my spare. Good think I did cause it was at 20 psi. Should have been around 37 like my other tires. But it is 17 years old.

This makes me think I should check my almost 18 year old spare. It is totally factory and on the factory rim. I will have to check the pressure. Of course I can't use it because it is larger then my current tires. It is a real tire not a true spare. I also need a new rim for it.....

This makes me think I should check my almost 18 year old spare. It is totally factory and on the factory rim. I will have to check the pressure. Of course I can't use it because it is larger then my current tires. It is a real tire not a true spare. I also need a new rim for it.....View attachment 47055

Click to expand...

Even if the tire is too big, it will still get you home unless you lowered your Tahoe.

I remember the days when GM used 5 lug on 2WD and 6 lug on 4WD. Never did understand why GM did that. Now GM uses the same lug pattern on all 1/2 ton 2WD and 4WD models.

Even if the tire is too big, it will still get you home unless you lowered your Tahoe.

Click to expand...

Maybe. Even a small size mismatch on the rear axle will damage a limited-slip rear axle fairly quickly, because it will cause overheating. If you're running 4wd you can't have a mismatch between front and rear, either, or you run the risk of driveline damage.

Just yesterday I replaced my oversized spare with a new one that matches the other four.

People in the off-road trail riding community place great emphasis on having a matching spare since with that kind of driving you may find yourself in a situation where anything less won't get you out of whatever part of the back country you were in when you got the flat. I don't do much trail running any more but I do think there's a certain amount of logic to that if you use your truck in a way that requires the 4wd more than once in a great while.

I know last time i checked my spare was around 3 months ago. but i havent been driving it so i really havent checked it. Also my spare has never been used, the rim still looks gorgeous, and the tire still has those lil pricks on them that come off from driving it.

I have a limited slip rear, also in the winter I drive in 4wd when ever it snows. When I replace my tires I will be getting tires that are the same size as my spare, actually they will be the newer version of the tire on the spare.